A Special Day
Directed by Ettore Scola
Written by Ruggero Mascale and Ettore Scola
1977/Italy
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel
Gabriele: Today’s a very particular day for me, you know. It’s like a dream where you want to scream but nothing comes out.
An outstanding film about loneliness set to the background of Hitler’s state visit to Rome in 1938.
I came to the film knowing nothing about it except this blurb on the IMDb page. “Two neighbors, a persecuted journalist and a resigned housewife, meet during Hitler’s visit to Italy in May 1938.” I think it works best that way so I’ll only summarize the basic set up.
Antonietta Taberi (Sophia Loren) is the exhausted mother of six children. Her husband is a womanizer and an official in Mussolini’s government. The entire family, minus Antonietta, is attending a grand parade in honor of the visit. As she is doing her chores, her pet talking mynah bird escapes. It flies near the window of Gabriele (Marcello Mastroianni), her neighbor across the courtyard.
Gabriele helps Antonietta capture her bird. The two could not be more different. She is an uneducated woman who supports Mussolini without thinking about it much. He is a sophisticated former radio announcer. He tries to cheer her up. She cannot help being attracted to him. I will leave it right there,
I loved discovering this movie. The acting is superb. The whole thing is exquisitely shot in sepia tones with muted dashes of color. The soundtrack combines a beautiful score with the constant blare of a radio broadcast adulating the two dictators and describing the parade. Highly recommended.
A Special Day was nominated in the categories of Best Actor and Best Foreign Language film. Mastroianni richly deserved his nomination and possibly the win.
